Prompt 6 (612 words) I wanted to take this OT to talk about something that I think could use a reform. That issue is player contract negotiations. It seems to me (and i'm definitely in the minority, I think, based upon the conversation I had with the "S36 Players Union"), that there is so little variance in contract negotiations throughout the league. It feels like every player contact is something similar to $1,000,000 - $3,000,000 a year with (MO) (SA) for anywhere from a one year extension to multi year deals. It is as if it is just a customary process that doesn't mean anything. The main argument that I have heard regarding this is "most players don't rely on contracts to earn money, they do media/graphics/league jobs/etc. so they are happy with making league minimum". And I totally get that, but I think it takes away from the "realism" of the league that way. I think that a player's value to a team should somewhat be reflected by the contract that they sign. "But @soevil, you just are bad at negotiation and got fleeced by your GM!" -someone said to me (I forget exactly who it was). They ragged on me for getting a weak contract, but when it was looked in to, that player only ended up earning in the ballpark of $2M more over the duration of each respective contract - hardly anything to write home about.
Admittedly I don't have a good answer to how to fix this, but I think that there is plenty of brain power in the league that a solution can be figured out. I can understand that simply raising the cap isn't going to alleviate the problem entirely, as it was pointed out to me that many teams just sit on the extra cap and dish out bonuses, but it could be a step in the right direction to at least allow for more flexibility in player contracts. One potential solution could be to attach a draft minimum yearly salary similar to what the NFL does. The higher the draft pick, the higher the minimum yearly salary must be on the initial contract. Not only could this help in improving the contract and cap variance issues, but it could actually bring some incentive for players to be a top selection in the ISFL draft (other than personal pride or a dotts card).
One thing that almost everyone looks forward to is the draft. Not only is the draft process one of the most exciting times for new creates and even recreates, but finally seeing and hearing your players name called can be an awesome experience. And while I understand the intent is to not discourage players that may be drafted late, I feel like the common phrase of "Remember: It doesn't matter at all where you are selected in the draft. A late round player can be just as good as a 1st round pick blah blah blah" can somewhat discredit the efforts of those users who have worked hard to make them an appealing draft selection. To me, it is just lame to see a top eight selection and a 6th round pick get comparable contracts when there is likely a significant gap in user effort and possibly impact to the drafting team. I think there has to be a way to encourage a high effort user with in game incentives, such as a higher base salary or potentially the ability to "unlock" additional contractual clauses. Ultimately, I want to see the league grow and thrive, and revamping contract negotiations, salary cap management, and even draft incentives would be a good place to start innovating.
Admittedly I don't have a good answer to how to fix this, but I think that there is plenty of brain power in the league that a solution can be figured out. I can understand that simply raising the cap isn't going to alleviate the problem entirely, as it was pointed out to me that many teams just sit on the extra cap and dish out bonuses, but it could be a step in the right direction to at least allow for more flexibility in player contracts. One potential solution could be to attach a draft minimum yearly salary similar to what the NFL does. The higher the draft pick, the higher the minimum yearly salary must be on the initial contract. Not only could this help in improving the contract and cap variance issues, but it could actually bring some incentive for players to be a top selection in the ISFL draft (other than personal pride or a dotts card).
One thing that almost everyone looks forward to is the draft. Not only is the draft process one of the most exciting times for new creates and even recreates, but finally seeing and hearing your players name called can be an awesome experience. And while I understand the intent is to not discourage players that may be drafted late, I feel like the common phrase of "Remember: It doesn't matter at all where you are selected in the draft. A late round player can be just as good as a 1st round pick blah blah blah" can somewhat discredit the efforts of those users who have worked hard to make them an appealing draft selection. To me, it is just lame to see a top eight selection and a 6th round pick get comparable contracts when there is likely a significant gap in user effort and possibly impact to the drafting team. I think there has to be a way to encourage a high effort user with in game incentives, such as a higher base salary or potentially the ability to "unlock" additional contractual clauses. Ultimately, I want to see the league grow and thrive, and revamping contract negotiations, salary cap management, and even draft incentives would be a good place to start innovating.